The Offspring
The Offspring is an American punk rock band formed in Huntington Beach, California in 1984.The-Offspring on Punknews.org. Since its formation, the band's line-up has included Dexter Holland (lead vocals, guitar), Noodles (lead and rhythm guitars, backing vocals), and Greg K. (bass, backing vocals). In 1987, Ron Welty replaced James Lilja as the drummer for The Offspring, completing the band's most successful lineup that would last for 16 years. Their current drummer Pete Parada, formerly of Face to Face and Saves the Day, joined the band in 2007, after Atom Willard decided to leave to focus on Angels & Airwaves. After releasing their first two albums, The Offspring (1989) and Ignition (1992), The Offspring achieved moderate success with Smash (1994), now having sold over a million copies and going platinum six times. As a result, the band was widely credited, alongside fellow California punk bands Green Day and Rancid, with popularizing and reviving mainstream interest in punk rock in the United States.DeRogatis, Jim. Milk It!: Collected Musings on the Alternative Music Explosion of the 90's. Cambridge: Da Capo, 2003. Pg. 357, ISBN 0-306-81271-1 The critical praise given to Smash garnered attention from major labels, including Columbia Records, with whom The Offspring would eventually sign in 1996. Their first album for Columbia, Ixnay on the Hombre was released in 1997 and was well received by critics. The Offspring continued to achieve success with their three follow-up albums, Americana (1998), Conspiracy of One (2000) and Splinter (2003), reaching multi-platinum, platinum and gold status respectively.RIAA (type in "Offspring" in the artist box), obtained May 31, 2008.The Offspring at Rockonthenet.com, obtained January 27, 2007. The band's eighth studio album, Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace, was released in 2008. They are currently recording their ninth studio album, which is due for release sometime in 2011.Offspring Plotting 'Rise And Fall' Follow-Up The Offspring has sold over 45 million albums worldwide,History on Offspring.com, retrieved January 27, 2007. making them one of the best-selling punk rock acts of all time. Each album since the release of Smash has sold over a million units.The History History Early years (1984–1987) The band was formed by guitarist Dexter Holland and bassist Greg Kriesel, who met on their high school cross-country team, under the name "Manic Subsidal". The decision to form a band came outside of a Social Distortion concert when both were refused entry. Doug Thompson was added for vocals,Biography of The Offspring, from Lycos.com, obtained January 27, 2007. and Kevin "Noodles" Wasserman, the school janitor, was welcomed into the band, allegedly because he was old enough to purchase alcohol for Holland and Kriesel, both of whom were under the legal drinking age. The band used Thompson's friend, Jim Benton, as their drummer. Thompson was eventually forced out of the band, while Benton left. This led to Holland taking over on vocals, and James Lilja joining as the drummer. The band changed their name to "The Offspring" in 1985. In 1986, the band released their first single; the 7" "I'll Be Waiting/Blackball". They released the single on their self-made Black Label record company, named after the brand of beer. Lilja quit shortly after the release to pursue a medical career in gynecology,Dexter on song: Beheaded, by Dexter Holland, obtained January 27, 2007. and was replaced by Ron Welty, who was only 16 years old at the time.Interview with Ron Welty, from Tama Drums and Hardware, obtained January 27, 2007. ''The Offspring'' and Ignition (1988–1993) After recording a demo in 1988,The Offspring at NIPP, obtained November 10, 2007. The Offspring signed a record deal with a small-time label, Nemesis Records. Then in March 1989, the band teamed up with producer Thom Wilson (of The Adolescents, Dead Kennedys, Social Distortion, The Vandals and Youth Brigade fame) to record their first album, titled The Offspring. The album was released in limited numbers by the label, only in a 12" vinyl format, and a proper CD release did not surface until 1995. A six-week national tour followed, but Noodles was later stabbed during their Hollywood anti-nuclear benefit. In 1991, The Offspring teamed up with Wilson again to produce the Baghdad 7" EP. This EP was instrumental to the band's signing with Epitaph Records. Wilson had been trying to get The Offspring to switch to Epitaph, a label run by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. Gurewitz felt that The Offspring was just not quite pronounced enough for his label, but Baghdad convinced him to give the band a shot. In 1992, Thom Wilson and The Offspring returned to the studio to record their second album Ignition, which was released in October of that year. The album exceeded all of the label's and band's expectations. The band went on tour for the next two years with other punk bands such as Pennywise, and ska punk bands like No Doubt and Voodoo Glow Skulls. Mainstream success with Smash (1994–1996) When The Offspring returned to the studio to work on their third album in 1993, the band's relations with producer Thom Wilson had begun to strain. The band released what would become their biggest selling album, titled Smash (1994). Fueled by the hit singles "Come Out and Play", "Self Esteem", and "Gotta Get Away", the album set the all-time record for most units sold by an independent label band at 16 million records. Smash has continued to sell consistently well in the seventeen years since its release, and has also been certified 6x Platinum in the United States. The album also sold very well outside the U.S., particularly in Australia, where it debuted #1 on the ARIA Charts for three weeks in 1995. After the release of Smash, and armed with a newly expanded income, the band decided to buy out the rights to their first album. Holland and Greg K. then created their own record label Nitro Records and started signing bands. One of their first releases was a re-release of their first album The Offspring. The label also signed a number of punk bands including The Vandals, Guttermouth and Jughead's Revenge. Soon after, Nitro Records became solely Dexter's responsibility. ''Ixnay on the Hombre'', Americana, and Conspiracy of One (1997–2002) The Offspring left Epitaph and signed with Columbia Records. The band began writing and recording their fourth album, titled Ixnay on the Hombre, in 1996. The album was released on February 4, 1997, which happened to be Noodles' 34th birthday. This album was not as successful as Smash, although it did sell four million units and spawned five singles. The album saw the band move away from the political-punk themes common to many Epitaph bands, and more into mainstream rock with songs like: "All I Want", "Gone Away", and "I Choose". The video for the latter track was directed by Holland himself. Dexter commented that Ixnay probably wasn't as well-received as Smash was because it was such a departure, and that many fans probably were expecting Smash Part Two.Offspring Complete Music Video Collection DVD In 1998, The Offspring released Americana. Three of the album's singles: "Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)", "Why Don't You Get a Job", and " The Kids Aren't Alright" became the band's biggest hits and making the album the peak of The Offspring's mainstream popularity. "She's Got Issues" was also released as a single, and was a minor hit. In 1999, the band appeared as themselves in the film Idle Hands. They played a cover version of "I Wanna Be Sedated" (originally by The Ramones) and "Beheaded" at a school dance before Holland's character is killed. They also appeared at the infamous Woodstock 1999, where their performance was broadcast live on pay-per-view television. 2000 saw the band release their sixth album called Conspiracy of One. The band intended to release the entire album online through their official website, to show their support for downloading music on the internet.The Offspring to Release New Album Free Online By Robert Menta of MP3 Newswire, posted September 18, 2000 However, under threat of legal action by Columbia through their parent company Sony, only the first single "Original Prankster" was released on their official website (the rest of the record was leaked to fan sites).Sony Forces The Offspring to Cancel MP3 Giveaway By Robert Menta of MP3 Newswire, posted September 26, 2000 The band also sold T-shirts on their website with the Napster logo on it and donated money to Napster creator Shawn Fanning with the profits. The band also released a single "Defy You" exclusively for the film Orange County. Ron Welty's departure, Splinter and Greatest Hits (2003–2005) Longtime drummer Ron Welty left the band in 2003 to start Steady Ground, a band in which he plays drums and co-produces. Neither Welty nor the remaining members have elaborated on the departure. In 2003, the band released their seventh album Splinter. The Offspring recruited Josh Freese to record the drums for Splinter and later announced that Atom Willard would be the official replacement for Ron Welty. The album's original title was to be Chinese Democrazy (You Snooze, You Lose), from the name of the long-delayed album by Guns N' Roses. As a result, Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose filed a cease and desist order against The Offspring, but eventually began to calm down when he realized the date this was announced was April 1. The first single "Hit That" enjoyed moderate success on MTV. "Hit That" used a variety of electronic samples, different from what The Offspring has done in the past.Punk's Offspring is aging well, by Randy Lewis of the LA Times, posted December 21, 2003. In 2005, the band released a Greatest Hits album in both DualDisc and regular CD editions. Greatest Hits contains 14 of the band's hits between Smash and Splinter, and two previously unreleased songs, "Can't Repeat" and "Next to You" (a cover of The Police) (a hidden track). The compilation does not contain any material from the first album and Ignition. The DualDisc contains video of Dexter and Noodles discussing the band's history and a bonus acoustic version of the song "Dirty Magic." About a month later, the band released a video DVD with all of their music videos, and some videos from a live show. During the summer of 2005, the band played the Vans Warped Tour for the first time, and followed that with a tour of Europe and Japan. After the "Greatest Hits" world tour the band took a break from writing, recording and touring. During the hiatus, Willard was recruited by Tom DeLonge for his band Angels & Airwaves and released an album, We Don't Need to Whisper, in 2006. ''Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace'' (2006–2009) In November 2006, it was reported that The Offspring were back in the studio recording their eighth studio album, Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace with producer Bob Rock and "a fistful of demos". In July 2007, Dexter announced that the band had finished two more songs and the album was being recorded in Orange County, California.Dexter's Journal Entry for July 18, 2007 The album, in its entirety, can be streamed online for free at iMeem.com.inTuneMusic: Listen to The Offspring's new album for free It was announced on July 27, 2007, that former Saves the Day drummer Pete Parada had been chosen to be The Offspring's new drummer, replacing Atom Willard, who went on to join Angels and Airwaves. The band's first shows with Parada were at the Summer Sonic festival in Japan in August of the same year.The Offspring have a new drummer Posted July 27, 2007 It was during these shows that the band debuted "Hammerhead" which would become the first single from the new album. Parada did not play on the new album however; Josh Freese once again handled drum duties, as he did with Splinter.The Offspring Announce New Drummer Posted July 30, 2007 The Offspring co-headlined the Australian Soundwave Festival during February and May 2008, alongside Incubus and Killswitch Engage. On April 9, 2008, Dexter announced that the album would be called Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace and would be released on June 17.The Offspring journal entry The album's first single, "Hammerhead", went to radio on May 6.The Offspring To Release New Single In May, obtained April 3, 2008. Additionally, The Offspring's official site provided an MP3 download of the song to the general public on May 5.Free "Hammerhead" Download Available Now from The Offspring Official site, obtained May 5, 2008. Their second single from the album, "You're Gonna Go Far, Kid", had topped the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart, and had stayed there for 11 weeks, a record for the band, along with proving the song to be one of the most successful singles the band has released in their over-twenty year career. Also in April 2008, Epitaph Records also announced that the label would be reissuing Ignition and Smash; both albums were remastered, and Smash contained a new 24 page booklet. The re-issues were released on the same day as Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace, coinciding with the new album's release.Punknews.org | Epitaph to re-issue Offspring's Ignition and Smash The supporting tour for the album began on May 16 with a performance at the X-Fest festival in California. On May 28, it was announced on the band's website that Scott Shiflett (from Face to Face) would replace bassist Greg K on current tour dates due to a birth in the family. Kriesel returned in mid-June.News: The Offspring In October, with the addition of touring guitarist Andrew Freeman, the band embarked on a 3 week Japanese tour followed by a tour of South America. On December 13, 2008, The Offspring headlined the nineteenth annual KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas.KROQ's official website, obtained November 20, 2008. In an interview at the Almost Acoustic Christmas show, guitarist Noodles stated that The Offspring would be taking a break for a month or two and promised a US tour to kick off in 2009.KROQ Videos On Demand : The Offspring Interview, obtained December 19, 2008. They toured North America on their "Shit is Fucked Up" tour from May through July with Dropkick Murphys, Alkaline Trio, Street Dogs, Pennywise, Shiny Toy Guns, Sum 41 and Frank Turner."The Shit Is Fucked Up Tour". Noise Press. Retrieved on March 24, 2009Frank Turner to tour with The Offspring Next album, Happy Hour! and beyond (2009–present) In a May 2009 interview with guitarist Noodles stated that frontman Dexter Holland had been working with Bob Rock again in Hawaii for what would be the ninth Offspring album. Also in that interview, he said that the album may include some songs that never appeared on Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace.The Offspring guitarist hints at next albumGreg Beharrell » Blog Archive » Greg VS The Offspring (Noodles May 2009), obtained May 29, 2009. Frontman Dexter Holland told OC Register in June 2009 that he wanted to try not to have the ninth Offspring record take as long as Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace.O.C. band the Offspring holds nothing back, Orange County Register, June 1, 2009 In regards to a new album, Holland told Rolling Stone that the band had conversations about working with producer Bob Rock again and plans to have the new album out sometime in 2010.The Offspring's Dexter Holland Talks Summer Tour, Hot Sauce Noodles also told the Edmonton Sun that the Offspring were planning to begin recording in the fall of 2009. He also said, "We don't have any songs yet. Maybe a couple of demos here and there. But we're looking at old songs and seeing if we could flesh those out."The Offspring: Plans For Next Album | News @. Ultimate-guitar.com. Retrieved on 2010-09-01. In a June 2009 interview with Billboard, Noodles stated that Holland and producer Bob Rock "kinda went over a couple of things that were left off the last record" and "songs that were even left off Splinter or maybe even Conspiracy of One and kind of looked at some things with free eyes and see if there was anything there that can be worked on." He also stated that he would like to have the new album out in 2010, but the band wasn't likely to hit the studio until January. Asked in the interview if drummer Pete Parada will be involved in the recording process, Noodles replied, "He's great. We haven't actually done any real recording with him yet, but we're looking forward to that. He's a great drummer. He's got great ideas, just really on top of things. Nothing phases him; we'll throw something at him, 'Hey, do this,' and, 'OK...' He's a really nice guy and just a real powerhouse drummer, so we're looking forward to working with him." Despite earlier reports that work on the next Offspring album would begin in early 2010, drummer Pete Parada said in a January 2010 interview that the band was "not ready to talk about it yet".TheOffspringSite.Com interviews Pete Parada! On February 15, 2010, it was announced on the Offspring's official website that they would headline two dates in Western Canada in June. The announcement also said that a North American summer tour was in the cards.Canadian Offspring Dates Announced On February 18, 2010, The Offspring posted a link to the "Offspring Studio Cam", which features images and footages of the band showcasing the writing and recording of their ninth album. On March 11, 2010, The Offspring announced that they would be joining 311 on their summer 2010 Unity Tour. The 19-date tour was held in amphitheaters around the U.S., also featuring Pepper as a special guest. After this, The Offspring played Japan's Summer Sonic Festival that August. Before the 311 and Pepper tour, The Offspring played four East Cost Dates in June, which was supported by Terrible Things.News. The Offspring. Retrieved on 2010-09-01. The Offspring took a break from the studio in order to participate in 311's 2010 Unity Tour, and planned to play some new material during the shows.311, The Offspring, Pepper link up for Unity Tour >> Tour dates at LIVE DAILY. Livedaily.com (2010-03-24). Retrieved on 2010-09-01. On May 3, 2010, Dexter posted an update on the new album on the message board of the official Offspring website saying that the band was "working on a batch of songs. They're all in different stages, some are just started and some are nearly finished". He also revealed that the band has been in the studio working on the album "every day for the next two weeks...we're going to try to get something new finished and ready to play live on tour this summer." Dexter also revealed they have been working on a new song called "It's All Good"; however, he is uncertain if it is going to appear on the new album. In a June 2010 interview with Loveline, Dexter and Noodles mentioned that The Offspring were taking a break from recording in preparation for the new tour. Asked in that interview what the album will sound like, Noodles said it is going to be a continuation of Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace, via going back to Smash, while Dexter describes it as "straight-up rockin'".Loveline-2010-06-02cf - The Offspring.mp3. zSHARE. Retrieved on 2010-09-01. In the very same interview, Dexter and Noodles said they might release a live album after the ninth studio album, yet to be named. At the Las Vegas show on June 18, 2010, The Offspring debuted a new song, titled "You Will Find a Way",The Offspring Concert Setlist at The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel, Las Vegas on June 18, 2010. setlist.fm. Retrieved on 2010-09-01. which will likely appear on their new album. They also played a cover of The Clash's "The Guns of Brixton". Noodles said that The Offspring was expected to get back to work in earnest on the new album at the end of the Unity Tour. As for the new album, he told Billboard.com in September 2009 that "It's been going slow. We started recording a while ago. We've only got the one song that's close to being done and...five or six songs that I'd say are close. We want to get this record out as soon as possible, so we work at it, but at the same time you don't want to put out something that's not great. So we spend plenty of time trying to get it right, and...maybe our senses are a little more fine-tuned, so we tend to nitpick."Offspring To Debut New Song On Unity Tour. Billboard.com (2009-09-14). Retrieved on 2010-09-01. Bassist Greg K told Examiner that The Offspring was hoping to release their new album before the end of 2010, although he acknowledged that sometimes the process can take "a bit longer than you anticipate."The Offspring Bassist On New Album | News @. Ultimate-guitar.com. Retrieved on 2010-09-01. To coincide with the band's summer Japanese tour, Sony released a Japanese exclusive compilation album, titled Happy Hour!, on August 4, 2010.News. The Offspring. Retrieved on 2010-09-01. On October 4, 2010, Dexter posted a message on the band's twitter, saying "good to be back in the studio". This led to speculation that the band had started or continued recording their new album.http://twitter.com/offspring On December 20, 2010, The Offspring stated on their twitter that they had spent the last 2 weeks in the studio and they would continue recording their new album after the holidays for 2011 release.http://twitter.com/offspring/status/17044209093582848 Dexter and Noodles mentioned in the Happpy New Year Podcast that they have been working on a set of 12 or 13 songs. Talking about when the new album will be finished in the same podcast, Dexter says, "We don't know. It could be done tomorrow, but it won't be finished and it won't be good yet", although he later says that his new year's resolution was that he hopes that it will be finished by March. Dexter also mentions that the band will tour in support of the new album in 2012. On January 11, 2011, session drummer Josh Freese (who recorded drum tracks for the band's last two albums) mentioned on his website that he was in the studio working with The Offspring again.http://www.joshfreese.com/ Style and influences While The Offspring are primarily considered a pop punk or simply a punk rock group, their music contains strong elements of 1990s grunge, and the occasional ska. A signature style of The Offspring is their chorused "whoas", "heys", or "yeahs". NOFX (who were labelmates with The Offspring from the early to mid 1990s) has poked fun at them for this in their song "Whoa on the Whoas". Several tracks also incorporate elements of Eastern music, which can be heard on the likes of "Pay the Man" and the verse hook from "Come Out & Play". Their lyrics cover a wide range of topics, like personal relationships, such as in their songs "She's Got Issues", "Self Esteem" and "Spare Me the Details," and the degradation of the United States and society in general with songs like "It'll Be a Long Time", "Americana" and "Stuff Is Messed Up". The lyrics generally reflect a sarcastic viewpoint, which, along with the language, can be offensive to some. This is acknowledged in the first track from their album Ixnay on the Hombre, "Disclaimer". Like "Disclaimer", the first track of most of The Offspring's albums are an introduction of some sort, "Time to Relax" (from Smash), "Welcome" (from Americana), "Intro" (from Conspiracy of One), and "Neocon" (from Splinter) are also examples of this. The band cites their musical influences as Agent Orange, The Adolescents, Angry Samoans, Bad Brains, Bad Religion, Black Flag, Channel 3, Circle Jerks, The Clash, D.I., The Damned, Dead Kennedys, Descendents, The Dickies, Metallica, Minor Threat, Nirvana, Ramones, Sex Pistols, Sham 69, Social Distortion, TSOL, The Vandals and even Bob Marley and The Wailers.Greatest Hits DVDAmericana: Soundtrack for a Declining CivilizationDexter Holland's Opus Band members ;Current members *Dexter Holland – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, piano (1984–present) *Noodles – lead guitar, backing vocals (1985–present) *Greg K. – bass, backing vocals (1984–present) *Pete Parada – drums, percussion (2007–present) ;Session musicians *Josh Freese – drums on Splinter and Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace ;Former members *Doug Thompson – lead guitar (1984) *Jim Benton – drums, percussion (1984) *James Lilja – drums, percussion, backing vocals (1984–1987) *Ron Welty – drums (1987–2003) *Adam "Atom" Willard – drums (2003–2007) ;Touring musicians *Ronnie King – keyboards, percussion, electronics (2003–2004) *Chris "X-13" Higgins – percussion, backing vocals, keyboards, guitar (1993–2005) *Warren Fitzgerald – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2008) *Andrew Freeman – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2008) *Scott Shiflett – bass, backing vocals (2008) *Todd Morse – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2009–present) Timeline ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:30 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:60 top:0 right:50 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1984 till:01/01/2011 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Colors = id:Vocals value:blue legend:Vocals id:Bass value:red legend:Bass id:Guitars value:green legend:Guitars id:Drums value:gray(0.45) legend:Drums id:Lines value:black legend:Releases Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom ScaleMajor = increment:3 start:1984 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:1984 LineData = at:06/15/1989 color:black layer:back at:10/16/1992 color:black layer:back at:04/08/1994 color:black layer:back at:02/04/1997 color:black layer:back at:11/17/1998 color:black layer:back at:11/14/2000 color:black layer:back at:12/09/2003 color:black layer:back at:06/17/2008 color:black layer:back BarData = bar:Holland text:"Dexter Holland" bar:Noodles text:"Noodles" bar:Greg text:"Greg K." bar:Lilja text:"James Lilja" bar:Welty text:"Ron Welty" bar:Willard text:"Atom Willard" bar:Parada text:"Pete Parada" PlotData= width:10 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Holland from:01/01/1984 till:end color:Vocals bar:Noodles from:01/01/1985 till:end color:Guitars bar:Greg from:01/01/1984 till:end color:Bass bar:Lilja from:01/01/1984 till:01/01/1987 color:Drums bar:Welty from:01/01/1987 till:03/18/2003 color:Drums bar:Willard from:10/01/2003 till:07/27/2007 color:Drums bar:Parada from:07/27/2007 till:end color:Drums Discography :Main article:The Offspring discography * The Offspring (1989) * Ignition (1992) * Smash (1994) * Ixnay on the Hombre (1997) * Americana (1998) * Conspiracy of One (2000) * Splinter (2003) * Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace (2008) Awards * List of awards and nominations received by The Offspring References External links * Official site * Live Rock Am Ring 2008 – Hammerhead by Offspring * Website for touring guitarist Andrew Freeman * Russian fan site – theoffspring.3dn.ru * Slovak fan site - offspring.tym.sk Category: Bands LTJ have played with Category: Links to Wikipedia